Air-compression gun.



R. C. WORLEY.

AIR COMPRESSION GUN.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2, 191a.

Patented Nov. 21, 1916.

2 SHEETS attomm moamto'a R. C. WORLEY AIR COMPRESSION GUN.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2, 191a.

Patented Nov. 21, 1916 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

avwewitoz KOBERTC-WORLET ROBERT CLIFTON WORLEY, 0F OWENS CROSS ROADS, ALABAMA.

AIR-COMPRESSION GUN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented N 0V. 21, 1916.

Application filed February 2, 1916. Serial N 0. 75,804.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT C. WORLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Owens Cross Roads, in the county of Madison and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Air-Compression Guns, of.which the following is a specification, reference'being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to air guns, and particularlyto a type of gun wherein the air is compressed by a spring operated plunger or piston released by the action of the trigger.

The general object of my invention is to provide a simple, efi'ective, and easily operated gun of this nature wherein the projectiles are carried on a magazine and ejected one by one into the bore of the gun for projection by the compressed air.

A further object of my invention is the provision of means which acts both as a valve preventing the passage of compressed air from the compression chamber into the bore and as a carrier for the projectile in transferring the projectile from the magazine to the bore of the gun, this combined carrier and valve acting when the projectile is disposed in the bore of the gun to open communication between the compression chamber and the bore to cause the projection of the bullet.

A further object is to provide improved means whereby the projectile carrier and valve may be actuated as the air compressing piston arrives nearly to its limit of compressive movement. And still another object is to provide means whereby the valve and projectile carrier may be readily removed whenever it is desired to do so but is normally housed and protected from accir dental movement.

'Still another object is to provide improved means whereby the air compressing piston may be manually shifted to its retracted position against the force of the spring.

Other objects of my invention will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an air gun constructed in accordance with my invention, the gun being partially broken away to show the interior construction; Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of a gun constructed in accordance with my lnvention but showing the parts at the time when the projectile is ejected; Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4i of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a perspective detail view of the valve and projectile carrier; Fig. 6 is a perspective detail view of the lever for automatically actuating the valve; Fig. 7 is a fragmentary plan view showing the connection of the push rod-'33 with the portion 21 of the piston Fig. 8 is an elevation of the exterior tube of the magazine, one end being partly in section; and Fig. 9 is a longitudinal section of the interior tube of the magazine.

Referring to these figures, it will be seen that my improved gun comprises a barrel, designated 10, a forestock 11 extending beneath the barrel and extending rearward beneath the air compressing chamber and is operatively connected to the. stock proper 12. Between the barrel 10 and the forestock there is mounted the magazine chamber 13 which extends forward the full length of the barrel and is provided on its interior with a spring 14 by which the projectiles disposed within the magazine are urged rearward or toward the stock. The magazine will be later described.

Rearward of the barrel there isdisposed the neck of the stock which forms an air compression chamber 15 within which is mounted a piston 16 of the same character as those used in bicycle pumps. This piston is connected to a rod 18 which extends rearward and out through the rear wall of the compression chamber and into an opening 19 formed in the butt 12 of the stock. This chamber or opening 19 extends rearward into the butt of the stock any desired extent but is sufficiently large to permit the piston rod 18 to be drawn rearward to its full extent. The rod 18 is bent downward where it passes out through the rear wall'of the compression chamber 15 and is then extended forward againthrough a bore 20 formed in that portion of the neck rearward of the barrel and the forward end' 22 of this forwardly extending portion 21 of the piston rod is longitudinally slotted as at 27. The lower edge of this portion 21 of the piston rod is formed with a notch 23 for engagement by the detent end of a sear 24 which is pivoted at 25 and disposed in the recess in the stock. The forwardly extending tail. 3

of this sear 24 is adapted to be engaged by the tail of the trigger 26 which is pivotally mounted in a suitable recess in the stock, as illustrated most clearly in Fig. 2.

Pivotally mounted in a chamber 29 extending downward from the forestock near its rear end is a lever 30. The lever extends rearward from its pivot 31 and at its rear end is formed with an elongated finger loop 32 which, when the lever is in its normal position, fits against the under side of the stock and forms a guard for the trigger 26. The forward end of the lever is disposed within the chamber 29 and its extremity is pivotally connected to a push rod 33. This push rod is bifurcated at its rear end to provide parallel legs. These,

legs are connected by a pin 34 to engage through the slot 27. Disposed within-the air compressing chamber '15 is a coiled spring 35 which is compressed by retraction of the piston rod under the action of the lever 30. When the piston rod is fully retracted the detent on the sear 24 engages in the notch 23 and holds the piston rod in its retracted position.

In order to provide for transferring proj ectiles from the magazine tothe bore 36 of the barrel, I provide a vertically reciprocating valve 37. This valve intersects the bore. The valve chamber extends vertically downward through the barrel adjacent its rear end and opens at its upper end upon the upper face of the barrel. The lower end of the valve chamber opens into the chamber 29 into which the passage 20 opens.

That portion of the bore 36 rearward of the member 37 constitutes a continuation of the compression chamber 15 and is designated 39. It will be noted that the portion 39 of the bore is tapering toward the valve 37, thus being enlarged at its rear end, and it will also be noted that the core 40 of the valve is smaller than the bore 36 of the barrel. The member 37 is formed at its middle with a transverse venturiform opening 40 whose forward portion forms a seat for the projectile a. Disposed in detachable engagement with the rear end of the barrel and over the chamber within which the member 37 moves is acombined sight and cap designated 41 having a sight 42 carried thereby and within this cap there is disposed a coil spring 43 which urges the member 37 downward. Pivotally mounted beneath the rear end of the barrel and forward of the compression chamber is a trigger designated 44. This trigger is downwardly and forwardly curved and ends in a portion 45 which extends beneath the member 37 and has an upwardlv extending lug 45 engaging in a slot in the valve 37. The trigger 44 is pivoted intermediate its length and adjacent its rear end upon a pivot pin 46 and extends downward below upward until the opening 40 therein is in line with the barrel 36. The lug 45 keeps the carrier and valve 37 in place and prevents itsrotation. As soon as the carrier has reached the position where its opening 40 is in line with the bore 36, the 'air compressed within the compression chamber 39 will force the projectile out through the bore of the barrel. The member 37 will be held in its raised position while the piston is moving rearward against the force of the spring 35 by the engagement of the push rod 33 with the under side. of the valve or carrier 37, as illustrated in Fig. 1, and thus permit air to enter into the compression chamber while the piston is moving rearward. Upon a forward movement of the push rod 33, due to the return of the lever 30 to the position shown in Fig. 2, the oiston rod being retracted at this time and held in its retracted position by the sear, the valve will drop to a receiving position so asto carry the opening 40 into registry with the magazine. The sliding member 37 remains down until the gun is again fired whereupon it is raised by the magazine heretofore described and the projectile ejected. The magazine may be filled in any suitable manner fro-m an opening either in the side of the magazine or at the forward end of the magazine, this opening being designated 50.

While I do not wish to be limited to any particular construction of the magazine, I have illustrated the magazine as formed in two parts and comprising an outer tube 13 and an inner tube 13*. The inner tube contains the spring 14 and is locked in position by a lug 51 which extends into a bayonet slot 52 in the outer tube 13. When it is desired to re-load the magazine, the inner tube is released from its engagement with the outer tube and withdrawn to an extent permitting the insertion of projectiles within the outer tube, and when the magazine has been filled the inner tube is replaced, the spring 14 being compressed as the inner tube is shifted longitudinally through the outer tube.

The operation of this invention will be obvious from what has gone before. By operating the, lever 30 the piston 16 is shifted to its retracted position, the piston rod being caught in this retracted position by the sear 24. During this rearward movement of the piston the valve 33 is in its upper position,

and communication between the bore of the gun and the air compression chamber is established. Upon the return of the operating lever to the position shown in Fig. 2 the valve 37 will be released and the spring 43 will cause the valve to shift downward so as to bring its bore 40 into alinement with the magazine. The spring 14 will then force one of the projectiles to its seat in the bore 40. hen the trigger is pulled, thesear releases its engagement with the piston rod and the spring 35 projects the piston forward, compressing the air before the piston. As the piston nearly reaches its forwardmost position the end 22 of the returned portion 21 of the piston rod engages the lever 44 and shifts the carrier and valve 37 to its raised position carrying a projectile a into position in the bore and opening communication with the air compression space, whereupon the projectile is ejected. As soon as the piston is again drawn back and the operating lever returned to position in Fig. 1, the spring 43 forces the sliding valve and carrier 37 down to its receiving position.

It was before adverted to that the portion 39 of the bore of the barrel is tapering and that the forward extremity of this bore and the bore 40 of the valve 37 is smaller than the bore 36. It is furthermore noted that the valve 37 is only forced up to operative position when the piston 16 is nearly engaged with the end of the compression cham-- ber 15. Now in the first place, the projectile is not disposed within the bore 36 until the air has been very highly compressed behind it. Now this air passing from a relatively small bore 39-40 into the larger bore 36 by a well known law expands very greatly and hence the air has a much greater effect upon the projectile and forces it out from the barrel with much greater force than it would if the bore 36 were of the same size as the bores 39 and 40 and the projectile would be thrown with more force than if the projectile were disposed within the bore 36 at the time that the piston started to move. I thus secure the ejection of the projectile at a very high speed and secure a comparatively greater range than if the bores 39 and 36 were of the same size.

It is obvious that many changes may be made in the details of construction of this gun without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I am not, therefore, to be limited to the exact details of the several parts nor to the exact arrangement illustrated.

-Having described my invention, what I claim is: v

1. In an air gun of the character described, a barrel, a magazine extending parallel to the barrel, a feed spring in the magazine, a valve and carrier movable transversely across the barrel and the magazine tirely through it and formed to provide a projectile seat, means for normally holding the valve in a position where the projectile seat registers with the magazine, an air compression chamber disposed behind the valve, a piston operating therein, a spring urging the piston forward, a scar adapted to hold the piston in its retracted position, a trigger for releasing the sear, and a lever operatively engaged with the end of the valve andcarrier and disposed in the path of movement of said piston whereby when the piston has shifted to a predetermined position the valve will be shifted to dispose a projectile in the barrel and open communication between the forward end of the barrel and the compression chamber.

2. In an air gun of the character described, a barrel, a magazine extending parallel thereto, a valve and projectile carrier movable across the magazine and barrel and having a perforation formed to provide a projectile seat, a spring normally holding the valve with its seat in registry with the magazine, a lever operatively engaged with one end of the valve and adapted to shift it, a compression chamber disposed behind the barrel and opening thereinto, a piston mounted in the compression chamber and having a piston rod re-turned upon itself and extending forward and disposed to engage with the valve operating lever, a spring urging the piston forward, a sear adapted to hold the piston in a retracted position, a lever for shifting the piston to its retracted position, and a trigger for releasing the piston.

3. In an air gun of the character described, a barrel, a forestock, a magazine disposed beneath the barrel and extending into the forestock and to the rear end of the barrel, a spring disposed in the magazine and urging the projectile therein rearward, a stock compression chamber, a piston mounted inthe air compression chamber and having its rear end downwardly and forwardly curved and extended toward the barrel, the stock being cut away to permit the retraction of the piston, a spring within the compression chamber urging the piston toward the barrel, a lever mounted upon the frame of the gun, a link connected to the lever and having detachable engagement with the returned end of the piston, said lever being movable to shift the piston rearward, a sear adapted to engage the piston in its rearmost position, a trigger operating the sear, and automatically operating means actuated by said piston for shifting a projectile from the magazine into the barrel of the gun.

4. In an air gun of the character described, a barrel, a forestock, a magazine barrel, the stock being cut away to permit the retractionof the piston, a spring within the compression chamber urging the piston toward the barrel, a lever mounted upon the frame of the gun, a link connected to the lever and having detachable engagement with the re-turned end of the piston, said lever being movable to shift the piston rear- Ward and being independently movable in the reverse direction, a sear adapted to engage the piston in its rearmost position, a trigger operating the sear, a valve movable across the barrel and having an aperture adapted to register with the bore of the barrel, this aperture being enlarged at its forward end to form a' projectile seat, means normally holding the valve in a position with its aperture in registry with the mega zinc, and means for shifting the valve to carry its aperture into registry with the bore of the barrel including a lever having one arm disposed in the path of movement of the re-turned portion of the piston.

,5. In an air gun, a barrel, a magazine disposed below the barrel, a vertically movable valve and projectile carrier vertically movable through the barrel and having a perforation adapted to register therewith, said perforation forming a projectile seat, a compression chamber disposed behind the barrel, a'spring actuated piston mounted in the compression chamber, a trigger adapted to operatively engage the piston to hold it in its retracted position to release the piston to permit it to be impelled bv the spring, a lever pivotally mounted below the barrel, a push rod having engagement with the piston upon a movement of the lever in one direction but moving relative with the piston upon a movement of the lever in the opposite direction, said push rod holding the valve and projectile carrier in its raised position when the push rod is shifted to retract the piston, and means engaged by the end of the piston for shifting the valve and carrier to its raised position when the piston has nearly reached the end of its forward movement.

6. In an air gun of the character described,a barrel,'a magazine disposed parallel with the barrel, a valve movable across the barrel and having a perforation extending through it and adapted to register in one position with the magazine and in the other position with the barrel and form a projectile carrier, means normally urging the valve to a position to close the barrel,

a compression chamber disposed behind the barrel, a piston operating therein, a spring urging the piston forward, manually operable means for shifting the piston rearward, said means acting to-hold the valve ina po-- sition to establish communication between the compression chamber and the barrel between the compression chamber and the barrel.

7. In an air gun of the character described, a barrel, a'compression chamber disposed rearward of thebarrel and opening thereinto, a valve and projectile carrier intersecting the barrel and having a perforation forming a projectile seat, said perforation when the valve is shifted into one position establishing communication between the compression chamber and the forvwhile the piston is being shifted rearward, means for holding thepisward portion of the barrel and cutting off said communication when the valve is lowered, a sprmg actuated piston disposed within the compression chamber, means for retracting the piston against the force of said spring and holding the valve in position where its opening establishes communication between the bore of the barrel and the compression chamber, means for holding the piston in its retracted position, means for urging the valve to a position to cut off communication between the bore of the barrel and the compression chamber when the piston has been fully retracted, and means for raising the valve and projectile carrier upon a release of the piston and its movement forward to a predetermined position.

8. In an air gun of the character described, a barrel, a compression chamber disposed rearward of the barrel and opening thereinto, a valve and projectile carrier intersecting the barrel and having a perforation forming a projectile seat, said perforation when the valve is shifted into one position establishing communication between the compression chamber and. the forward portion of the barrel and cutting off said communication when the valve is lowered, a spring actuated piston disposed within the compression chamber, means for retracting the piston against the force of said spring and holding the valve in position where its opening establishes communication between the bore of the barrel and the compression chamber, means for holding the piston in its retracted position, means for urging the valve to a position to cut off communication between the bore of the barrel and the compression chamber when the piston has been fully retracted, means for raising the valve and projectile carrier upon a release of the piston and its movement forward to a predetermined position, and means for preventing a rotation of the valve and projectile carrier uponits vertical axis.

9. In an air gun, a barrel, a frame supporting the barrel, a stock including a neck and a butt, an air compression chamber disposed in the neck and extending from the junction of the neck with the butt to the junction of the neck with the barrel, a piston mounted in the compression chamber hav-- ing a piston rod with its rear enddownwardly and forwardly curved and extended toward the barrel, the butt being cut away topermit the retraction of the piston and actuate said rod, a spring within the compression chamber urging the piston toward the barrel, a lever mounted on the frame forward of the neck and forming a trigger guard, a link connected to the lever and having detachable engagement with the returned end of the piston, said-lever being movable to shift the piston rearward and being independently movable in a reverse direction, a trigger operatively mounted upon the frame and normally covered bythe trigger guard, and piston releasing means operated by the trigger.

10. In an air gun of the character described, a barrel having a vertical passage extending through it at the rear end, a Vertically slidable valve disposed in-said passage, said valve normally closing the barrel but having an opening constituting a seat for a projectile, the valve being shiftable into position to carry the opening into alinement with the barrel, a detachable cap mounted upon the barrel into which the valve projects, a spring disposed within said cap bearing upon the upper end of the cap,

and means for shifting the valve upward against the action of said spring, said means having detachable engagement with the lower end of the valve whereby the valve may be removed by removing said cap.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aifix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT CLIFTON WORLEY.

Witnesses M. F.; IRAINE, NELLIE BUTLER. 

